16

A SOPHOMORE AND A SENIOR'S STORY

"ROX Rosinchy get your ass down here or I will beat you! Jace is coming to pick you up in 10 minutes!" Dave screams up the stairs and I sigh, running my fingers through my hair I straightened one last time.

I put on a tan tank top and black shorts, I put on a black headband before throwing on my black leather backpack and my vans. I brush some mascara through my eyelashes.

I sigh, coming downstairs to where my mom is eating food. "Did you wake up late? You never do that, love. You are always so excited before the first day, I don't get it."

"Yea! I woke up so early I was slow! I had so much time that I used it all fucking around!" I mention and she laughs, but stops once Dave opens the door from the garage and walks in.

"oh I see your up." He says with squinted eyes. "I'm so sorry I'm back from my trip, Dave. Really." I say sarcastically and he scoffs.

My mom stays quite, swallowing her coffee she holds in front of her with two hands. There is a knock on the front door and that's how I know he's here. I grab an apple and run towards the door but my mom stops me.

"You look amazing sweetie.." she says quietly and I push my lips together with a nod, "Thanks.." I mumble before opening the door.

"I gotta go-" I start but my mom cuts me off, "oh I'm sure Jace has just a second to come in for tea-"

"After school mom. After school."

"Promise?"

"Promise." I say in a sigh and she smiles, walking away as I close the door and jump onto Leo.

"There's my senior." I smile and he smiles back, he kisses my lips and sighs. "Not as fun as it seems." He says with a chuckle, shaking his head as he picks me up and walks us over to the car.

I take a bite of my apple and give him a bite of the apple too, "I know, Leo. But no matter what you'll still have me, you'll still have your family." I say quietly and he opens the door for me.

I jump out of his arms.

"No Rose?" I ask and he shakes his head, "She got a ride with my dad earlier this morning so she could try to butter up the teachers into giving you guys the same schedule." He says and I chuckle.

"Sounds like her."

He bites his lip as he leans against the car door.

"No matter what I still have the rest of the year with you, right?"

"Of course!" I say and he smiles. "I still got a year..." he mumbles, calming himself as I buckle my seat belt and he goes to the other side of his car, closing my door.

"Thank you for not bringing your motorcycle, Lee." I say and he nods, "I know you hate that old thing- Wait wait wait wait, Lee?"

"Yea, do you like it?" I ask and he smirks, "call me whatever as long as it's only you that calls me it... but... you better call me Leo when we have sex-"

"LEO!" I scream at him and he smirks, "Yea like that!"

I slap his chest, my face going red as he watches me, leaning over so his face is in front of mine.

His blonde hair falls over his face as I run my fingers through it, not being able to look him in his eyes but he pushes my face up with two fingers.

His thumb travels wearily over my lip, his tongue trailing across his top set of teeth as he smiles. His bright and energetic teal eyes trail over me as I smile.

He leans in and kisses me, a long kiss that makes my heart crumble at every movement.

When our lips part I smile against his lips, my hand trailing over his chest. "Now take me to school before we're late!" I say and he chuckles.

He moves and says back in his seat, his hand gripping onto my thigh as he smiles.

His eyes look at me through his peripherals and he smirks. "You look beautiful, Roxanne." He says and I smile.

"Since when do you call me Roxanne so much, Lee." I say as he starts his engine and backs out.

"Since I started thinking of you giving me a blowjob when I say Roxy-"

"Leo!" I say with a chuckle and he smiles, "The real answer is I call you whatever I want as long as it's only me that calls you it."

Why the fuck is he so sexual this morning Jesus Christ.

I mean I'm not complaining though...

I flip him off and he kisses my hand as we silently roll down the streets. "You promise you won't let any girls flirt with you and/or rub their butts against you in the halls?" I say quietly, gripping onto his hand that's on my thigh.

"I promise. If they do I'll tell them to back off, Roxy. I promise..."

"You better." I say with a scrunched you nose and he smiles at me. "People are gonna wonder why I'm not kissing random girls in the hall, I wonder what I'll ever do." He says with a wink and I roll my eyes.

"Kiss me..?"

"Roxy..-"

"C'mon Leo! You heard Rose say that she didn't care if we were dating as long as she still has me-"

"But even if you trust what she says I don't, Roxy. Rose says things sometimes that she doesn't mean, and we don't know what her true reaction is until we tell her. I can't afford to lose my sister's trust until we know how she'll react. Because I know that I'll lose you, I'm not taking this family from you too if we get caught. You know if Rose reacts like I think she'll make you choose." He says as we pull into the parking lot.

"I know.." I mumble, grabbing my bag.

"Roxy please don't be angry-"

"I'm not." I say sternly as I fix my hair in the mirror.

I am.

"Roxy-"

"I'm fine-"

"No you're fucking not. I'm not an idiot. You know we have to keep this a secret though, Roxy. I told you that before." He says, grabbing on to my thigh again but I shake it off.

"I'm not angry. I just don't like being told straight to my face you want nobody to know. I get the consequences but do you know how many girls love you, Leo? So fucking many-"

"Roxy you barely cuss-" he starts with furrowed eyebrows, his features sharp as though he could stab someone and he was with the look he was giving me.

"No! Stop! I want to tell you because I think you should know. I'm saying this and acting this stupid way because girls swarm you and love you to death and you don't have to deal with that with me. You don't have to hear every single girl talking about the hot football player in their Science class while you like him-"

"I have to deal with every single guy I know asking me to let them fuck you. They ask for your number and say you're beautiful and I have always had to sit there and swallow my insults because I couldn't tell anybody that you were mine. I mean fuck you didn't even know you're mine, but Roxy they're all gone now so it can just be us-"

"No it can't Leo! and that is in no way the same! You have power, and you've used it. Maybe guys talk abt doing that stuff to me but I have had to watch it my whole life. I have liked you since I knew you, and since then I've constantly had to watch girls flirt with you and talk about how fucking hot you are 24/7z It's a little disheartening when you know that if you don't let people know, that the person you've liked since you were six will realize he can fuck the entire cheerleading team and he'll never need you." I say and he sighs, his face softening.

I open the door and step out.

I can hear him try to leave behind me but there it is, like I said.

The cheerleading team surrounds him.

"Roxy!" I hear him scream but I also hear their moan-like voices saying "Jace Jace! I got breast implants over the summer! Do you like them?!"

You can do whatever you want with your body, it's yours and I can't say anything about it...

But don't show your tits to my boyfriend.

I walk into the office and smile, "Hello Ms Malloy!" I say as I walk through the doors. I act like nothing happened..

"Oh my favorite girl! All grown up!" She says with a chuckle and I roll my eyes, "I haven't changed much over the summer Ms Mal."

"Oh yes you have! Your tan! Your eyes, They're shining!!! Your skin is glowing!" She says as she types on her computer.

Ms Malloy was a young brunette office lady, she was the face you saw when you walked into the office.

To say I tell her everything is an understatement. I mean me and her are like me and Rose except she's 23.

She knows everything about me, even the stuff that Rose doesn't... which is how I met her. She saw me and Leo at a desk in the office when I was tending to his wounds after a fight. He has anger issues sometimes what can I say.

She told me not to get attached, how she'd watch him try to get every girl to do this with him. I just said, 'yea, it's too bad I already am.' She asked what I said, confused and I rolled my eyes. 'I'm his little sisters best friend, always second choice.'

Little did I know how right I really was.

"I have some catching up to do." She says and I nod. "I'll come in for lunch, I have some stuff to tell you that Rose doesn't know." I say and she pops her gum bubble.

"Ooh exciting!!" I laugh as she prints and hands me my schedule.

"I'll see you later, Roxy." She says, but her eyes travel behind me. "Hide! Hide!" She says as I go around it and duck under her desk. "Ms Mal wha-"

Urgent and strong steps sound through the entire room.

"Ms Malloy!" I hear Leo's familiar voice say in relief as he looks at her, she starts typing his name into the computer. "What can I help you with sweetie?" She asks and I cover my mouth as he sighs.

"Have you seen Roxanne?" He asks and she shakes her bead, "she hasn't gotten her schedule yet. Ooh but I bet she looks great today though, huh Jace?" Me Malloy asks as she presses print.

"Yea Yea she looks fucking smokin- I mean... she looks great, just as normal Ms."

Ms Malloy raises an eyebrow and nods cautiously. She hands him his schedule and he sighs, "are you sure you haven-"

"I have eyes boy." She says, done with his crap, similar to me, as she speaks. "Fuck this shit. Fuck her." Leo mumbles as he storms out. Ms Malloy looks under the table with a furiously look.

"That boy-"

"I know, me too." I sigh as I crawl out and stand up.

I hear Rose's voice closer and closer as she enters the room. "No [incoherent] haven't [incoherent] Jace." I hear as she comes in, looking at me and smiling.

"WHATS YOUR SCHEDULE!?" She screams as she sees me and I laugh as we sit by and Malloy's desk.

"We have First, Second, Third, Lunch, Fifth, and Seventh." I say and she rolls her eyes. "Screw sixth and fourth period-" she stops herself as a smirk arises on her face.

"HAZE!" She yells as he comes through the door, "Sorry I stopped and got coffee before I left." he says, itching the back of his neck and she shakes her head.

That's my loud best friend ladies and gentlemen.

"It's fine, but you're here, and if I don't have sixth or fourth period with you I'm gonna scream." She warns and his eyes go wide.

"Hello Ma'am-" "Ms Malloy," she corrects, "I'm a friend of these girls' so I'll make sure you two have fourth and sixth together. Jace and Roxy have those classes together anyway." She says and my eyes go wide.

Fuck.

:;

"I've got to go to the bathroom, I'll catch up okay?" I say and Rose nods. We're about to go to lunch but, as promised, I have things to tell Ms Malloy.

I just had my first class with Leo, and all I saw was girls begging to sit next to him, they surrounded his chair, touching all over his leg, asking "can I pleease sit on your lap. We have nobody else here!"

He didn't keep his promise... they you touched him. They rubbed their butts on him in the hallways.

Jokes on these bitches he likes tits.

I never talked to him, I didn't even look at him, and contrary to earlier he was done with me. He didn't want to look at me and he didn't want touch me. He looked straight at the board, and he let those girls' hands slam all over him, his face emotionless. When they would look up at him he'd give them a smirk, but that's my smirk.

Thats my fucking smirk.

He was so angry at me and for what? For telling the truth? So what...

I just wanted to be happy for once.

And instead all he gives me is this, the back of his head and his hands on another girl. I mean, cmon, I see his hand wrapped around Penny Lead's waist.

And it hurts..

It hurts my bones and my heart drops to my neck.. and I can't stop myself from feeling as though I were drowning in my own air.

But Y'know...

I always felt like this before.... I can deal with it again..

I walk in and Ms Malloy drops her hands from her computer, looks around, and drags me into her office. "Okay, SPILL!" She says excitedly and I groan.

"Okay long story short we had our beach trip this year, right? And in this beach trip me and Leo kissed again, even though he got a girlfriend-"

"Who?"

"Pearl Pennington."

"No!!"

"Yea!! Anyway, we kissed and he told me he liked me-no love yet but that's fine-for a while... I told him I couldn't live while knowing that he could do so much better. So he gave me reasons.... reasons that we are meant together. We hung out so much and Rose even told us while we were looking at baby's pictures that she wouldn't care if I dated Leo as long as she still had me... I told him I wanted to let people know because every girl loves him and wants to get in his pants but he said he couldn't lose his family and he couldn't lose me..." I say and she groans, rolling her eyes.

"Fuck that response! She said what she said-!"

"But he was like 'she says things she doesn't mean sometimes'" I mock and she chuckles. "Fuck him, I'll talk to you later kid go to lunch."

"I have to take the bus home today huh?" I ask and she furrows her eyebrows. "He dropped me off here..." I inform and she nods, "hitch a ride with your other friend Haze or something."

"Oh, yea... good idea." I say evilly and she furrows her eyebrows, giving me a look of disgust. "Out. Now." She says and I laugh, "Bye Ms Mal!"

I make it to the lunch room pretty quickly and jump on Rose's back while she's sitting down, my arms going around her neck. "Sup bitches." I say as I sit down in between Haze and Rose and lean on Haze.

"Nothin much since were the only ones here-"

"Sup fuckers." Leo says as he sits down, his lunch slamming in the table as he stares at Haze. Sure, we're allowed to be friends, but... if I touch him I'm dead.

And I was sure touching him.

Rose looks between me and Leo with a little smile because of the similarities of our entrances before Reed sits down next to Rose.

Rose looks at me with a look that just screams, HELP ME! and that's when the inevitable happens.

"Reed!" Marianna screams as she runs over to Reed and gets on his lap. She runs her fingers through his dark hair and smiles, her long black hair running down her back as she smiles at him.

"Hey babe." He says lowly, kissing her lips before he bites into a carrot.

Rose looks down at her lap while they do this, but I see Reed's constant stares towards her, and I see Haze's constant stares towards her....

but in a separate note... I'm sorry for using you as a prop Haze. I would normally just eat Leo's lunch.. so I hadn't brought anything.

but this time he's not giving me anything.

I kick my legs over Haze's and put my head on his shoulder. "Can I have some food?" I ask lightly, and he nods, swallowing.

I grab onto a roll of bread and slowly nibble it as I listen to Rose's conversation she's having with Haze.

Everybody else is talking amongst themselves too. Except him...

His eyes are on me, his hands clenched and his face red.

He holds onto a bag of carrots. He doesn't even like carrots, he brings them for me. His hold on them is so tight..

He has no right to be angry as his hands were anywhere near another girl.

He quickly stands up, pounding his hands on the table and dragging me away from Haze and out the door. He shoves me against the wall in the bathroom, holding my throat in a fit of anger.

"I hate you." He mumbles and I groan.

"Let go you ungrateful asshole!"

"No!" He says, grabbing onto my face as tight as possible before looking under the stalls for shoes and then slamming his lips against mine.

"Stop!" I say after pushing him back.

"You're supposed to be my girlfriend why are you touching him like that!"

"Why did you put your hand around Penny's waist Leo? Huh? This is your fault I just want to be happy but you have to take everything away from me!"

"My entire life is at stake here!"

"Their your family you come first Leo! If somebody was gonna get kicked out it'd be me and your entire family is my whole life and then I'd be all alone because my dad is fucking dead!" I scream, tears running down my face.

"And.. and.." I say, my words cutting out from shame, "And I was still willing to put everything I had left on the line because I knew we'd last.. because you were everything to me... but at this point just end it all..."

"what do you mean... end it all?" He asks lightly, his grip getting less tight as I go on.

"I just wanted you to love me.. you obviously don't." I say, pushing him off and running to the office.

I get to Mrs Malloys desk before I fall apart, sitting under her desk again like a little kid while she's at lunch and crying.

I miss my dad...

I miss when Leo loved me...